“I do. Thanks for coming.”
Spencer had heard me talking on the phone and slept through it, but now he woke to Gavin’s voice and his fear and adrenaline scented the air.
“It’s okay,” I set my laptop to the side and pulled him into my lap. He relaxed in my arms but kept his eyes on Gavin. “You know I need to have some kind of tie to you, and now that the blood-slave one’s broken, we have to replace it with another.”
“So, I’m not bound to keep the secret anymore?”
I shook my head. “And I won’t bind you to it. As a free wolf, that’s between you and the Concilio now. Or, it will be once the initial ten years are over, but I’m not worried you’ll talk. However, I need to make sure everyone knows you’re mine. A lone wolf is in danger if he doesn’t belong to an individual or organization strong enough to provide protection.”
“And if I wanted to join the Pack?”
My stomach and heart tried to somersault, and Gavin took a step back, but I remained calm. I’d set him free because I didn’t want him to stay if he’d rather be elsewhere.
“Do you?”
“Is it an option?”
“Not if you want to be mine. Randall will have control of your will and be able to look into your mind if you’re his wolf. You’ll also have to control the wolf inside you.”
“Oh, right. Sorry, I just woke and I’m apparently not thinking straight. I don’t want to do that. I’m yours. I don’t want to be anyone else’s.”
My world turned right-side up again. He wanted to be with me. Wanted to be mine.
“Does he need coffee?” Gavin asked. “We shouldn’t do this unless he’s thinking straight.”
I grinned and told Spencer, “Use the bathroom, brush your teeth, wash your face, and come back us.”
When he was gone, I told Gavin, “That’ll wake him. Thanks for coming on short notice.”
“Not a problem. When do I get his ass?”
I laughed. “Not anytime soon. I find I want to keep him to myself. If Spencer and I decide we want to spend some time with you and Queenie, we’ll let you know.”
He lifted a brow. “When the two of you decide? Not when you decide?”
I shrugged. “There’s a reason I released him as a slave before I drank from him the first time.”
“Kirsten really did a number on you.”
“No. She reminded me I’ve had people close to me who were obligated to do as they were told for far too long.”
You’re kidding yourself if you think he won’t do everything he’s told.
Gavin said it telepathically so Spencer wouldn’t hear, but I answered aloud.
“He’ll only do what his morals are okay with. I’ve watched him guide my flock, seen him handle the guards, the cleaning people, the lawn maintenance people. I know the pain and guilt he feels for the times he was forced to hurt someone by his former Master. If I were to order him to do something he wasn’t comfortable with, he’d refuse me.”
“Not right out,” Spencer said as he returned, “but I’d need to understand your reasoning. I trust you not to order me to hurt someone for your entertainment. If you needed me to hurt or kill someone because they endangered you or your people, I’d hate doing it, but I would.”
My heart warmed and I opened my arms to him, speechless. He came to me and snuggled in. “You aren’t a warrior, you’re a caretaker, and I adore you for it. The day may come when it’ll be helpful for you to fight by my side, and I’m glad you’ll be willing if it comes to it. I’d have never asked it of you, though.”
Gavin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, and I chuckled. “My second is very much a warrior. He’s here to witness and provide counsel for our binding. I have a few options, but my choice is to bond you as I would a lover and guard, which will also conveniently allow you to use your magic legally.”
“It will make you a target to our enemies,” said Gavin. “You’ll need to stay in our protected territory unless Abbott escorts you elsewhere.”
Gavin, Kendra, and I act as safety nets for each other. Informed consent is obligatory in my territory, and I’ve encouraged my second and third to be sure I’m giving full informed consent in these situations. I do the same for them. I trust these two with my life, and the lives of those I love. Gavin was making sure Spencer fully understood the repercussions.
“Protected territory?” Spencer asked.
“All of Hamilton County,” said Gavin, “and the two counties in Georgia just under us.”
“The Chattanooga metro area,” I clarified. “I know every powerful supernatural in my immediate territory, and trust all but two to keep you safe because you’re important to me. The coyote and tiger won’t hurt you just for the fun of it, but they might not protect you unless I give them incentive, which I will. You’ll have a guard with you when you want to venture into public at first, but once everyone’s met you, you’ll be able to travel at will inside the city.”
“The other options?”
“Employee, contractor, personal friend, and Friend of the Master of the City, which is more of a political thing. Only employee and contractor will allow you to use your magic.”
“Lover, then. I’d be okay with personal friend, but I’m happier with lover.”
“And guard? It’s what will allow you to use magic. I can funnel some of my power to you if you’re one of my official guards.”
“Only if you make it real and let me learn how to help keep you safe.”
My heart warmed once again, but I only nodded agreement and began setting up so we could exchange blood and make everything official.
He’d seen the ceremony and understood it. We gave the same vows we’d given each other earlier, and while I sensed Gavin’s surprise, he didn’t say anything. We’d recently exchanged blood, but we did it again so I could make the connection as strong as possible. I had no trouble navigating our energies to institute the right bond. Spencer had grasped his freedom and was happy with it. He wanted to bind himself to me, but held onto his freedom so I didn’t have to worry about it slipping back in. I’d chosen well with this one. With his intelligence, his focus on right and wrong and an unwillingness to break his own moral code — plus his strong grasp of supernatural politics — he was well suited to be a partner to The Master of the City. It might take him time to grow into the role, but I was going to enjoy every day of watching him blossom.
“So witnessed,” Gavin said when we finished. “Who shall I notify?”
“Tell Queenie and have her call the ones most likely to spread gossip. She’ll know who. Oh, and advise Aaron, Nathan, and Randall through official means. Also, either Duke or Brain in person, so there’s no record of the call.” I sighed. “Fuck, Martin, too — and offer recompense to rescue my boy should he see Spencer in need of assistance. Ask Randall to let the other local Alphas know, but go ahead and make a phone call to let Patrick know personally. Horse and Gabby will find out through the MC, but notify them officially. I’ll handle sending emails to all of our attorneys. Who am I missing?”
“Kendra needs to hear it from you. She feels cut off.”
“She’s the one who says there’s no one in the existing power structure to put in charge. She can come home once she sets up the hierarchy and is certain things will run smoothly.” I was frustrated she was still gone, though appreciative of the way she’d handled the changeover.
“I can think of a few seconds in our extended territory who are itching to be Master.”
I sighed. He was right. If Kendra hadn’t found someone local by now, it was time to bring someone in. “Send the seconds in Memphis and Mobile to her. Let her sort it out between them.”
“Excellent choices. Call her and tell her about Spencer. You can let her know who you’re sending while you have her on the phone.”
I lifted a brow, he chuckled, and left without further conversation.
Spencer was afraid for Gavin, and I reassured him. “Gavin and I have been friends a long time
. This isn’t about him giving orders to the Master of the City, but giving advice to a friend. He’d never do that in public, or if I pulled rank.” I sighed. “And he’s right. I should call her.”
I lifted my phone and called Kendra without checking in telepathically. She sounded tired but pleased when she answered.
“Abbott, is everything okay?”
“It’s beautiful. Spencer has been freed of the slave-bond and we have a nice cozy lover’s-bond now.”
“I’m happy for you. I can’t wait to meet him.”
“Gavin’s sending the seconds from Mobile and Memphis to you. You have two cities needing Masters. If they’ll do, assign them. If they won’t, look through the upper echelons in other cities for seconds and thirds who want their own territory, and whom you think might fit.”
“Thank you, Master. I agree with your choices and don’t believe I’ll need to look elsewhere unless they wish to bring someone trustworthy in as their own seconds.”
She used the formal wording because I’d pulled rank on her months ago and insisted she look harder for someone local to put in charge. I’ve found it’s best not to bring outsiders in if at all possible when you take over new territory. However, if she hadn’t found anyone she trusted to run the territory under my rules by now, it was time to look elsewhere.
“You’re welcome, and do what you must. You understand why I wanted you to find someone local?”
“I do. Unfortunately, no one gave me reason to trust them with the position.” She drew another breath so I waited for her to speak again. “Eric is starting to consider when he wants to be turned.”
“When? Not if?”
“He has a bucket list — things he has to do in the daytime. Two more mountains, hang gliding in some crazy canyon where it’s illegal but he doesn’t mind paying the fines. Oh, and kayaking in the gorge below Niagara Falls, which is also illegal without some kind of special permit, which he’s applied for, but they’ve only let a handful of people do it. He’s making plans for how to get away with it if they don’t give him a permit. When he finishes the list, he’ll be ready.” She sighed. “Assuming he lives through some of the crazy-assed stuff he wants to do.”
She switched to telepathy. He asked if you could turn him, instead of me.
I immediately understood Eric’s reasoning. He wanted to be bitten by the strongest vampire available. Also, I’d explained to him how Kendra used the beast she’d become when she’d originally been turned. Vampires are required to overcome their inner beast until we can no longer access it, but Kendra could still let the uncontrolled and powerful energy of the her inner beast out when she needed the extra power and ruthlessness. Eric was all about control. He’d want my energy.
Of course I’m available for the two of you. Are you okay with it? I sense conflict.
I’d rather be the one to do it, but I understand his request.
Talk to him. I’ll only do it if you’re both at peace with the decision.
“Okay, I understand,” she said, switching back to voice. “I’d feel the same.”
We said a few words of affection back and forth in French, and disconnected.
Spencer had to know we spoke telepathically during a portion of the conversation, but he didn’t ask about it. Instead, his first question was, “Can I still call you Master like that, sometimes?”
“I’m her Master, Spencer. You know how vampire society works. She doesn’t call me Master often, but I pulled rank to deny her bringing someone from the outside in, so when I changed my mind she used the title. It was just an extra little thank-you for softening my stance.”
“I do understand, but…” He sighed. “Never mind. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“No, Dearest. We need to talk this out. You want me as your Master and not your lover?”
7
Spence
The question clarified everything for me.
“Your lover, Abbott. You know what I need and want in bed, but the rest of the time? I like being your lover. I mean, I like the fact I get to take care of you, in a way. Caring for your flock, contributing to the household. You’ve set it up so…” I took a breath. “If things are going to work as I believe, I won’t be working as your employee, but kind-of-sort-of as your partner.”
Abbott smiled, and it lit his face. I also caught a hint of relief.
“You’re beginning to open up to me, too,” I told him. “And I’m glad. I need to know how you feel. I’m sorry I stressed you out with my question. You’re the Master of the City and I’m sure I’ll know when to address you as such in public. I get to call you Sir when you’re Topping me in bed, or wherever we decide to fuck. That’s enough.”
“Good. I’d like us to be partners as much as possible in our day-to-day lives. I’ll certainly expect you to obey in bed, but I’ll know if something isn’t working for you. I also know I can’t just give you what you want or it’ll defeat the purpose.”
I nodded. “Which is why you didn’t let me get hard our first time. It set the stage for later, and I appreciate it, Sir.”
“I’ve given orders for your belongings to be moved into my bedroom suite. There’s a second closet in my room, the doorway walled over so I didn’t have to look at it. It’ll be a door again when we return home, and your things will be in it. Your morning duties mean you’ll fall asleep a few hours after the sun takes me, but we’ll rearrange your late afternoon duties so you won’t need to set an alarm to wake. This will let me wake you when I rise.”
My first thoughts were that he hadn’t asked me if I wanted to move into his room, and my second thoughts were that it didn’t matter because I wanted to wake in his arms every day and no way was I going to complain.
“You’re right. I didn’t ask and I should have. I’m glad you’re pleased, but I’ll try to do better.”
I shook my head. “You’ve been in my head enough, it’s possible you’re a better judge of what I want than I am. Still, it’d be nice to be asked about major changes.”
“Again, I apologize.” His mouth twisted into a teasing grin. I’d seen this side of him a few times, and it made me feel as if I was with Abbott and not The Abbott. Hard to explain the difference, but I was pretty sure only a few people had seen that grin.
“You’re right,” he said with a quick kiss to my forehead after he brushed my hair to the side. “I hold my personal, lighter side in close lest people try to take advantage. Now, there’s something else you wanted to ask earlier. I think it’s best if you do.”
I took a breath and asked what I had really wanted when I’d requested permission to call him Master. “Can I please feel your belt, Sir?”
He chuckled and went to the wardrobe. “Lean over the bed and stick that beautiful ass into the air, boy.” His voice was deeper, his cadence different. Perhaps a hint of an Italian accent he’d scrubbed from his everyday voice?
“I love the way you talk to me when you go all Dom.”
He walked to the bottom of the bed so I only had to turn my head to see him. He held the belt in his right hand, doubled over and hanging towards the floor, relaxed. My insides vibrated and my cock swelled until the skin was so tight it hurt.
“Why are you about to feel my belt?”
“Because I asked for it, Sir.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“No, Sir.”
“You understand that once I start, I’ll stop when I’m ready and not when you decide, right?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Sir.”
He stepped behind me, grasped both my wrists in one hand, and pressed them to my back so I couldn’t move out of the way. Couldn’t escape.
The first strike was a line of fire across both cheeks, and I squeezed my hands into fists and wondered why I’d wanted this. The bones of my wrist shifted under his tight grip. He didn’t change his hold.
The second strike made me scream in agony, and I nearly cried when his hand touched the two welts and cool fingers stroked
them. Cold on fiery hot.
“So pretty. Red on white.” He pulled his hand back and I sensed him changing his grip on the belt. “Three fast. You can scream when they’re done but not until.”
I took a quick breath and held it, and squeezed my mouth shut for the three fast, hard, stripes of molten lava. I sucked more air in after the third landed. My knees bent, my toes pointed, my spine arched so my ass went up, begging for more. A long, low groan rumbled through my body.
Abbott chuckled from behind me. “You hard yet, boy?”
“Went hard when you opened the wardrobe to get the belt, Sir.”
“Five more strokes, the kind I give wolves and not humans. Feel free to scream as often as you want. My cock is already lubed, your ass isn’t getting any.”
“God yes, Sir.”
I screamed for every strike of the belt, and Abbott delivered them about twenty seconds apart — enough time to deal with the pain and get a breath before I heard the belt flying through the air towards me again.
He entered me with no fanfare before I’d had time to deal with the blazing impact of the last strike, his cool hips against my heated ass made my cock swell even more, and for the first time in years I worried I wouldn’t be able to hold my orgasm until he gave permission.
“I’ll work with you today,” he whispered in my ear. “Hold it as long as you can. Warn me at least five seconds before you go. It’s been an emotional day for both of us.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
I held on at least five minutes, but he pegged my prostate every time he entered me, and he was going vampire-fast. I was raw, the heat built more and more from friction, and I finally had to scream I was close.
He went in and held, pumping his own fluids into me as he ordered me to come for him.
I’m pretty sure my soul turned inside out. This wasn’t a release, it was a detonation. My first orgasm bound to Abbott as his lover, and the entire flavor was different. We were a set. He was mine and I was his.
He wasn’t totally mine, but I knew it going in and it was okay. He’s Master to thousands of vampires, and shapeshifters are frequently given to him for a feeding/fucking as tribute by their Alpha. Also, Abbott has many underlings he brings into line with a feeding and fucking, and often a whipping as well. Not to mention, he needs a varied diet of shapeshifters and humans in order to keep his own energy — and thus the energy of his territory — properly balanced. He’d have lovers besides me, would feed from others for power, nourishment, sex and so many other reasons. But that was okay. I was happy with the piece of him I had. He’d come home to me. He wouldn’t go home to them.
Leashed (Dark Underbelly Book 3) Page 6